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Hypothetical Question - Best speaker for equal to or less than $15K USD

I have owned them as does a friend of mine. We agree they soind great but I think they are closer to the 8-10K mark. 15K is too much. Neumann 420 is where I would look and save 5K. Or genelec for being bombproof.
 
newer offerings like The Black Keys


It's interesting how our perspective changes as we gracefully age. When I was younger, any band that had been around more than two years was considered old, any bands that had been around in popular culture more than ten years were really old, and bands that had been around over twenty years were ancient. But, I get it, in comparison to 70s and 80s bands, The Black Eyed peas are newer, relatively speaking.
 
Why spend extra on expensive tower speakers without DSP? Just get two Neumann KH150s and put them on stands plus four KH750 subwoofers for optimum bass distribution, and you'll only spend $10K. The KH150 is almost perfectly flat and the KH750 goes down to 25Hz!
 
For that kind of money I'd be looking at these.

 

Ah, there's one I didn't know about. Tell me more?
It's interesting how our perspective changes as we gracefully age. When I was younger, any band that had been around more than two years was considered old, any bands that had been around in popular culture more than ten years were really old, and bands that had been around over twenty years were ancient. But, I get it, in comparison to 70s and 80s bands, The Black Eyed peas are newer, relatively speaking.

hahaha, I get it... But they do have new albums, as opposed to many of the older bands that even if they do have new albums, they aren't from the original members. For what it's worth I did also put in Dirty Honey, maybe should have also listed Goodbye June, Kingfish Ingram or a host of other newer bands. I might be old, but I do listen to a lot of new music. And by the way, I also have my own new album just released in March, The Moderns "NEXT" :)
 
A few people asked about amplifiers. I'm not concerned with amps as I have a few. Everything from a current Buckeye NC502 amp, to a vintage pair of Adcom GFA 565 monoblocks, to a custom built KT88 tube amp, to a Firstwatt (pass labs) F5. Pretty much everything from high power class D to a low power class A to tube amps. I think I can find an amp that matches with just about any speaker out there. And if I don't have the right amp;, I'll either build one or buy one!

And none of that is to say I would eliminate powered speakers. What is is to say, is that the amp is not a limiting consideration.
 
I like the Revel F228Be at the $3475 sales price each for the next few days. I got mine a week ago and they absolutely surpass my listening expectations. I'm currently using the RME ADI-2 DAC FS with a Buckeye NC502MP and the sound power of the F228Be makes me giddy. I had Ascend Sierra Towers in this room before. After listening to the F228Be for a few hours with my favorite music I switched back to the Ascend Sierra Towers and was shocked at the difference even at low volumes. :D

The thing I like about the F228Be vs a heavy bookshelf like D&D or 8361A is they don't need a heavy duty stand. I don't have to physically lift them to move them around, they're not top heavy like a heavy bookshelf on a stand and to my eye they look better. No internal amps/electronics to fail means longer speaker life from my experience.
 
There are so many offerings once you get to this range. And of course auditioning them is next to impossible. Most of them I haven never even seen anywhere except in a picture.
IMO - In that price range it's worth traveling to audition before buying.

And I'm ok with or without a subwoofer, although at this price you wouldn't expect to actually need a sub.
I'd agree with that. But if you are going to use them for movies, you loose the "point one" LFE channel without a surround decoder and a subwoofer. (And you can configure an AVRs bass management to use the sub only for the LFE.)

When I was younger, any band that had been around more than two years was considered old,

:D I have The Beatles, Live at the Hollywood Bowl (1964) and at one point they (John Lennon?) joke, "The next song we're going to sing is an oldie. Some of you older people might remember... From last year...
 
It's interesting how our perspective changes as we gracefully age. When I was younger, any band that had been around more than two years was considered old, any bands that had been around in popular culture more than ten years were really old, and bands that had been around over twenty years were ancient. But, I get it, in comparison to 70s and 80s bands, The Black Eyed peas are newer, relatively speaking.
To someone in their early 20s now, Daft Punk and Fleetwood Mac are equal in their status as "old". When I realized this, I instantly shriveled up into a mummy and died. To me, 1999 is still not that long ago, but that was long enough before they were born to make the whole thing "vintage".
 
I like the Revel F228Be at the $3475 sales price each for the next few days. I got mine a week ago and they absolutely surpass my listening expectations. I'm currently using the RME ADI-2 DAC FS with a Buckeye NC502MP and the sound power of the F228Be makes me giddy. I had Ascend Sierra Towers in this room before. After listening to the F228Be for a few hours with my favorite music I switched back to the Ascend Sierra Towers and was shocked at the difference even at low volumes. :D

The thing I like about the F228Be vs a heavy bookshelf like D&D or 8361A is they don't need a heavy duty stand. I don't have to physically lift them to move them around, they're not top heavy like a heavy bookshelf on a stand and to my eye they look better. No internal amps/electronics to fail means longer speaker life from my experience.

Agree with this premise, but the F328be is also on sale for $6800/ea or a pair for $13,600 putting them in the range of the proposed budget. There is a thread on here comparing the F226be's to the F328be's. Many on that thread think the 226's are as good or at least a better deal and the 228's would be even better. By the way, the same location also has the Salon2's for exactly $15,000 for a pair.

I think Amir put it best when he said "The rule here is simple: if you can afford the more expensive speaker, get it. :) There is nothing that the F328Be does worse than its smaller brothers." Of course this argument would also apply to the Salon2's. However, the Salon2 is a much older design and even the engineers at Harman have been quoted as saying the 328's are, in many ways, better than the Salon2's. But of course this is all just speculation without hearing them both.

I would have a hard time getting either upstairs to my listening room as they are both very heavy beasts! That might be the best case for the 228's!
 
Agree with this premise, but the F328be is also on sale for $6800/ea or a pair for $13,600 putting them in the range of the proposed budget. There is a thread on here comparing the F226be's to the F328be's. Many on that thread think the 226's are as good or at least a better deal and the 228's would be even better. By the way, the same location also has the Salon2's for exactly $15,000 for a pair.

I think Amir put it best when he said "The rule here is simple: if you can afford the more expensive speaker, get it. :) There is nothing that the F328Be does worse than its smaller brothers." Of course this argument would also apply to the Salon2's. However, the Salon2 is a much older design and even the engineers at Harman have been quoted as saying the 328's are, in many ways, better than the Salon2's. But of course this is all just speculation without hearing them both.

I would have a hard time getting either upstairs to my listening room as they are both very heavy beasts! That might be the best case for the 228's!

I bought the Revel F328Be three years ago. I have them in a large 24' by 28' room and love them. When I saw the F228Be on sale for almost 40% off I had to have a pair of those too. I didn't think they would come close to the F328Be but I was wrong. The F228Be is just as good as the F328Be. In a medium size room they absolutely kick. The bass is tight and impactful and the sweet Be tweeter sounds just like my F328Be. I never would have guessed how much these two speakers sound alike. You can pay more for the F328Be but if you don't have a huge room I would go with the F228Be. They are amazingly good!

And if weight is a concern, you will appreciate the F228Be is 30lbs lighter. :D
 
I bought the Revel F328Be three years ago. I have them in a large 24' by 28' room and love them. When I saw the F228Be on sale for almost 40% off I had to have a pair of those too. I didn't think they would come close to the F328Be but I was wrong. The F228Be is just as good as the F328Be. In a medium size room they absolutely kick. The bass is tight and impactful and the sweet Be tweeter sounds just like my F328Be. I never would have guessed how much these two speakers sound alike. You can pay more for the F328Be but if you don't have a huge room I would go with the F228Be. They are amazingly good!

And if weight is a concern, you will appreciate the F228Be is 30lbs lighter. :D

Why are the 328's better for a larger room? Is it output volume? Or dispersion? Or a bit of both?

For what it's worth, my room is pretty large. Although a bit of a weird shape. It's 40' long and it's an upstairs with dormers. So from one end to the other, there is an 8' x 18' section, an 8' x32' section, an 8'x18' section (where the listening position is), an 8' x 32' section, and finally another 8'x 18' section. The overall length is 40' with alternating 8' sections of 18' and 32' respectively. With the listening area in the middle section. Overall room volume is around 7500 cu ft.
 
The JBL M2s if you could get a complete amp/eq set for $15k would be awesome.
 
Why are the 328's better for a larger room? Is it output volume? Or dispersion? Or a bit of both?

For what it's worth, my room is pretty large. Although a bit of a weird shape. It's 40' long and it's an upstairs with dormers. So from one end to the other, there is an 8' x 18' section, an 8' x32' section, an 8'x18' section (where the listening position is), an 8' x 32' section, and finally another 8'x 18' section. The overall length is 40' with alternating 8' sections of 18' and 32' respectively. With the listening area in the middle section. Overall room volume is around 7500 cu ft.

The Revel F328Be tweeter is mounted 47" above the floor while the F228Be tweeter is 43" high. That 4" difference makes the F328Be a good choice when the listener is 11' or further away. While the Be tweeter is not super directional like ribbon RAAL tweeters found in BMR speakers, it may sound like the singer is standing above you if you are sitting too close to the F328Be. That 4" lower tweeter on the F228Be makes it a better fit for close listening positions.

Next, when you are trying to fill a large room with hard punching bass three 8" woofers found on the F328Be can offer additional power compared to two woofers with the F228Be. These driver differences aren't huge but you can see how they might lend themselves to excel in different listening environments.
 
The JBL M2s if you could get a complete amp/eq set for $15k would be awesome.

Several years ago I would have agreed and was looking hard at the M2's. But in the blind listening tests at Harman, a huge percentage of listeners picked the Salon2's over the M2's! There are several internet threads on it.
 
Several years ago I would have agreed and was looking hard at the M2's. But in the blind listening tests at Harman, a huge percentage of listeners picked the Salon2's over the M2's! There are several internet threads on it.
Easily explained. The Salon 2s have wider dispersion and are likely to sound bigger and more spacious than the M2s on most program material in a typical domestic room because of sidewall reflections.

That does not mean they are better than the M2s.

I tend to think that mid- and high-frequency sidewall reflections from relatively non-directive loudspeakers have a homogenizing effect on the spacial characteristics of different recordings.
 
The Revel F328Be tweeter is mounted 47" above the floor while the F228Be tweeter is 43" high. That 4" difference makes the F328Be a good choice when the listener is 11' or further away. While the Be tweeter is not super directional like ribbon RAAL tweeters found in BMR speakers, it may sound like the singer is standing above you if you are sitting too close to the F328Be. That 4" lower tweeter on the F228Be makes it a better fit for close listening positions.

Next, when you are trying to fill a large room with hard punching bass three 8" woofers found on the F328Be can offer additional power compared to two woofers with the F228Be. These driver differences aren't huge but you can see how they might lend themselves to excel in different listening environments.

Ah, gotcha RE tweeter height. my listening position is about 14' away. But the couch position is pretty low so something to consider.

RE, punch and woofers.. Yes, this would definitely be what I expected. I would definitely not be happy if I spent that kind of money and had wimpy bass punch! Rock n Roll requires a lot of bass punch!

Been reading more about the Dutch 8c... Interesting. There's a place in Nashville that sells them. I get down there for session work once in a while, maybe I'll go check them out.
 
Genelec 8361a. Also, depending on your aesthetic preferences and needs, you can save $2k on Dutch 8c's by getting the Studio version: all-black and no built-in Roon, but otherwise the same as the regular 8c's.
 
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